Arq Ajeeb: Menthol and Camphor Drops, Uses and the Baby Warning

Arq ajeeb is a strong liquid made of menthol, camphor and thymol, used on the skin for headaches and aches and, by tradition, dropped on sugar for stomach cramps. Our take is blunt. It’s an adult-only product with a real poisoning risk, because camphor can cause fits in a child, so it must never be given to, rubbed on or opened near a baby or young child.

What’s inside arq ajeeb, and why it’s not like other arqs

Most arqs are gentle, because arq gulab, arq ajwain and arq pudina are waters distilled from petals or seeds, weak enough to stir into a sharbat (our guide to jawarish, majoon, khamira, arq and sharbat explains the family). Arq ajeeb only shares the name. It isn’t water.

Labels typically list three crystals, often in equal parts:

• Sat-e-pudina, menthol, the cooling crystal taken from mint oil.
• Kafoor, camphor, the same kapoor used in cupboards and puja.
• Sat-e-ajwain, thymol, the sharp crystal taken from ajwain oil.

Here’s the odd part, and probably where “ajeeb” (strange, wonderful) comes from. Put these three dry crystals together in a jar and they melt into a clear liquid at room temperature, without any water or heat, so what sits in that little bottle is essentially the pure chemicals in liquid form. Similar mixtures are sold in India, often under the name amritdhara. Check the ingredient panel on your bottle, since some makers add mint or eucalyptus oils.

So a “drop of arq” is a drop of concentrated camphor and menthol. Big difference.

The baby warning: camphor, menthol and children

Camphor is a nerve poison when swallowed. Children are far more sensitive than adults, and a small amount, even a lick from a bottle or a finger wiped in the mouth, can cause vomiting, confusion and fits. Toxicology references treat around a gram of camphor as potentially fatal for a small child. If a mixture is equal parts, as labels typically show, about a third of the liquid is camphor. A splash is enough.

It isn’t only swallowing, since camphor also passes through a baby’s thin skin and rises off it as fumes the baby breathes in. Menthol brings its own danger: strong menthol vapour close to a baby’s nose can make the airway tighten suddenly, so the baby struggles to breathe. That’s why rubbing arq ajeeb or any camphor balm on a baby’s chest, feet, navel or under the nose is a hard no. Our piece on Vicks on the feet for cough covers the same problem with vapour rubs.

A child with colic, a blocked nose or tummy pain needs a different route. For a baby’s blocked nose, the house saline is half a level teaspoon of salt in 250 ml of boiled, cooled water, a few drops in each nostril. For a baby’s tummy, see a doctor; don’t reach for any arq.

If someone swallows it: poisoning signs and what to do

Watch for a burning mouth or throat, a strong camphor or mint smell on the breath, vomiting, stomach pain, restlessness, confusion, twitching muscles, unusual sleepiness and fits. In a child, signs can appear within minutes. Adults who drink a large amount by mistake, or on purpose, are at risk too.

1. Get help now. Head to the nearest emergency department, or call 1122 (Pakistan) or 112 (India). Don’t wait for symptoms.
2. Take the bottle so the doctors can read the ingredients.
3. Don’t make them vomit. Vomiting while drowsy or fitting can send the liquid into the lungs.
4. No milk, ghee, oil or desi remedy. Camphor dissolves in fat, and fat may help it get absorbed faster.
5. If a fit starts, lay them on their side on the floor, move hard objects away, put nothing in the mouth, and note how long it lasts.
6. Splashed in the eye? Rinse with gently running clean water for 15 minutes, then get the eye checked.
7. Spilled on skin? Wash with soap and water for several minutes and remove soaked clothing.

For household camphor tablets, the same rules apply; our guide to kapoor and the poisoning risk for kids covers storage in detail.

How adults use it, and what’s fair to expect

What people feel is real. And simple. Menthol triggers the skin’s cold sensors so the area feels cool and the ache seems to fade, camphor adds warmth and a tingle, and the smell opens the nose, or at least feels as if it does. It’s a counter-irritant: a strong sensation that distracts from the dull one underneath. There are no good trials showing arq ajeeb helps a stomach problem by mouth, and taking a poison-containing concentrate for gas is a poor trade.

Limits for external use in adults

• Small areas only, and only on unbroken skin. Not on cuts, burns, rashes or the face near the eyes.
• Never inside the nose, ears or mouth, and not on the gums: it can blister them.
• Don’t cover it with a tight bandage, a hot-water bottle or a heating pad. Heat plus menthol can burn.
• Patch test first on the inner arm and wait a day. Stop if it stings, blisters or itches.
• Wash your hands afterwards, before touching eyes or a child.

Myth: A drop on the navel settles a baby’s colic

This one is dangerous. A baby’s skin absorbs camphor, and the fumes rise straight to the nose. Crying babies need holding, winding and, if it goes on, a doctor. Not arq.

Myth: Crystals from mint and ajwain must be gentle

The plants are gentle. The purified crystals are not, and a bowl of pudina chutney and a bottle of menthol crystals are worlds apart in strength, even though one came from the other.

Who else should keep it away

• Pregnancy: camphor crosses the placenta. Don’t take it by mouth, and ask your doctor before using it on skin.
• Breastfeeding: never on the chest or breast, where the baby’s face will be.
• Epilepsy or a history of fits, since camphor lowers the threshold for seizures.
• Asthma: strong fumes can set off wheezing.
• Liver disease, because the liver breaks camphor down.
• Anyone on regular medicines: check with your pharmacist before using it by mouth.

And a headache, toothache or stomach cramp that keeps coming back deserves a proper look. See a doctor for a sudden severe headache, one with fever and a stiff neck, weakness or speech trouble; for a toothache with facial swelling; or for stomach pain with blood in the stool, vomiting that won’t stop, or fever over 3 days.

Buying, storing and the honest verdict

Arq ajeeb is cheap, and prices vary only a little by brand and bottle size; a costlier bottle isn’t safer or stronger. Buy a sealed bottle with a printed batch number, expiry date and full ingredient panel, and in Pakistan look for an enlistment number (our guide on checking a DRAP-enlisted product explains it). Skip unlabelled bottles sold loose.

Storage matters most. Keep the cap tight. Store it high, locked if you have toddlers, never in a handbag a child rummages through, and never decanted into a water bottle, eye-drop bottle or anything that looks drinkable.

Verdict: for adults, as an occasional rub for a stiff neck or a sniff for a blocked nose, it’s a cheap, old-fashioned counter-irritant with honest limits. By mouth, skip it; for gas or cramps there are safer kitchen options. In any home with babies or young children, the safest bottle is the one you don’t buy. More plain-spoken reviews live in Unani & Herbal, Decoded.

Arq ajeeb questions people ask